How to reduce the risk with high blood cholesterol?

The following steps can be taken to keep your cholesterol low and reduce your risk for atherosclerosis (a heart disease,which is costly and fatal )

- Follow a diet lower in saturated fat and cholesterol

- Be physically active

- Maintain a healthy weight

- Not smoke
-In extreme conditions medications are prescribed

Diet : The fat intake from food matters very much in lowering cholesterol. As there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol there is good and bad fat. The intake of good fat and reduction of bad fat is what really matters when comes to heart disease. The good fats, mono and poly unsaturated fats really help lower the risk. The bad fats, saturated and trans fats increases the risk. The key is to substitute good fats for bad fats. The Recommended daily Allowance for cholesterol is 300 mg per day based on a 2000 calorie diet. So care is needed to limit cholesterol intake on daily basis.

The easiest and best way is to start herba life products. Herbalife has no cholesterol, low carbohydrate, no transfat and low salt. It is rich in protein and full of essential nutrients and fiber. Also Herbalife is the only foods, which provides enzymes, and ginger and other nutrients that facilitate assimilation of the nutrients in to our body effectively .So that way herbalife is the ideal food to reduce risk for heart diseases.

Excercise:

Excercise itself doesnt " burnoff " cholesterol like it can with fat tissue. However, when it is labor intensive(1500kcal or more per week), excericse can increase metabolism and help in conversion of some form of cholesterol ot HDL,the good cholesterol. With regular excercise aproximately 30 minutes a day for 7 days a week, the LDL cholesterol can be reduced by 10 percent.
Thus life style can affect the Blood pressure, blood Cholesterol and blood glucose level. So a change in lifestyle is pretty much needed.

All about cholesterol

Heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women in most countries. More than 90 million American adults, or about 50 percent, have elevated blood cholesterol levels, one of the key risk factors for heart disease, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's National Cholesterol Education Program. If othr risk factors including poor eating, cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity are present in addition to high blood cholesterol, the risk of heart disease is even greater.

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance found among the lipids (fats) in the bloodstream and in all your body's cells. It's an important part of a healthy body because it's used to form cell membranes, some hormones and is needed for other functions. But a high level of cholesterol in the blood — hypercholesterolemia — is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack.

What are the types of cholesterol?

Cholesterol and other fats can't dissolve in the blood. They have to be transported to and from the cells by special carriers called lipoproteins. There are several kinds, but the ones to focus on are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Based on this the cholesterol is of two types.
LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol

What is LDL cholesterol?
LDL cholesterol is called "bad" cholesterol. LDL lipoprotein deposits cholesterol on the artery walls, causing the formation of a hard, thick substance called cholesterol plaque. Over time, cholesterol plaque causes thickening of the artery walls and narrowing of the arteries, a process called atherosclerosis. So high level of LDL cholesterol causes coronary heart disease.

What is HDL cholesterol?
HDL cholesterol is called the "good cholesterol" because HDL cholesterol particles prevent atherosclerosis by extracting cholesterol from the artery walls and disposing of them through the liver.
Total cholesterol is the sum of LDL (low density) cholesterol, HDL (high density) cholesterol, VLDL (very low density) cholesterol, and IDL (intermediate density) cholesterol.

What are the sources of cholesterol in blood?

Dietary intake – animal ,diary products, fat
Liver production - Liver produces the necessary cholesterol needed for the body. As such it is not necessary to get additional cholesterol from food.

What are the desired levels of the cholesterol in blood?

For adults age 20 years or over, the latest guidelines from the National Cholesterol Education Program recommend the following optimal levels:

Total cholesterol levels less than 200 mg/dl
HDL cholesterol levels greater than 40 mg/dl
LDL cholesterol levels less than 130 mg/dl
What is Ratio of cholesterol?

The ratio of HDL to LDL and total cholesterol, is actually more important then total cholesterol in predicting heart attack, heart disease, stroke, arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, coronary artery disease and other cardiovascular diseases.
The Desired ratios are

Total cholesterol / HDL less than 4.2

LDL/HDL should be less than 2.5

Above this range is very risky.

What are the factors affecting this cholesterol level?
A variety of things can affect cholesterol levels. These are things you can do something about:

• Diet - Dietary cholesterol comes mainly from meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products. Organ meats, such as liver, are especially high in cholesterol content, while foods of plant origin contain no cholesterol. So having food high in cholesterol increases blood cholesterol level


• Weight - Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease. It also tends to increase the cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower LDL and total cholesterol levels, as well as raise HDL ,good cholesterol
• Physical inactivity
• Smoking and alcohol
• Diabetes
  
• Things you cannot do anything about also can affect cholesterol levels. These include:


• Age and Gender-As women and men get older, their cholesterol levels rise. Before the age of menopause, women have lower total cholesterol levels than men of the same age. After the age of menopause, women's LDL levels tend to rise.
• Heredity - Genes partly determine how much cholesterol the body makes. High blood cholesterol can run in families.